Editing Aberdeen (section)

==Politics and government==
{{Main|Politics of Aberdeen|Coat of arms of Aberdeen}}

[[File:Marischal College A.JPG|thumb|[[Marischal College]], main offices of [[Aberdeen City Council]]]]
Aberdeen City is one of 32 [[council areas of Scotland]], administered by [[Aberdeen City Council]]. The council meets at [[Aberdeen Town House]] and has its main offices in the adjoining [[Marischal College]]. The civic head and chair of the council is the [[Lord Provost of Aberdeen|Lord Provost]]. The council area is also divided into 30 [[List of community council areas in Scotland#Aberdeen City|community council areas]], 29 of which had community councils operating as at August 2024.<ref>{{cite web |title=Community Councils |url=https://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/services/council-and-democracy/community-councils/community-councils |website=Aberdeen City Council |date=8 February 2024 |access-date=14 August 2024}}</ref>

The first [[burgh]] of Aberdeen, covering just the New Aberdeen area near the mouth of the Dee, was created by [[David I of Scotland|David I]] (reigned 1124–1153).<ref name="civicsociety"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Aberdeen Burgh |url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10357603#tab02 |website=A Vision of Britain through Time |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=14 August 2024}}</ref> Neighbouring Old Aberdeen to the north was subsequently made a separate burgh in 1489.<ref>{{cite web |title=Old Aberdeen Burgh |url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10361400 |website=A Vision of Britain through Time |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=14 August 2024 |archive-date=14 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240814074104/https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10361400 |url-status=live }}</ref> The burgh of Aberdeen was governed by a corporation, also known as the town council. As Aberdeen grew, the council's powers were inadequate to cater for the needs of the growing urban area. A separate [[Police burgh|police commission]] was established in 1795 with powers to levy taxes and provide infrastructure ('police' in this context being its older meaning of civic government rather than law enforcement). The first police commission was short-lived, but it was resurrected in 1818 after the town council went bankrupt in 1817. From 1818 until 1871 there was a dual system of local government, with the town council and police commission having different roles in Aberdeen's administration. The police commission was eventually abolished in 1871 and its functions absorbed by the town council.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lee |first1=Clive Howard |title=Aberdeen, 1800–2000 |date=2000 |publisher=Tuckwell Press |isbn=9781862321083 |pages=236–252 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6az73FqFVMMC&pg=PA236 |access-date=14 August 2024}}</ref>

[[File:Aberdeen, the Town House - geograph.org.uk - 3831834.jpg|thumb|left|[[Aberdeen Town House]], the administrative HQ of Aberdeen City Council]]

In 1891 the city boundaries were significantly enlarged, absorbing the neighbouring burghs of Old Aberdeen and Woodside, plus the Torry area on the south bank of the Dee. The act of parliament which expanded the burgh also confirmed that Aberdeen was entitled to be called a city; it had commonly been described as a city prior to that, but (like most Scottish cities) without official recognition.<ref name=1891act/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Beckett |first1=J. V. |title=City Status in the British Isles, 1830–2002 |date=2005 |publisher=Ashgate Publishing |location=Aldershot |isbn=0-7546-5067-7 |page=16}}</ref> Following the absorption of Torry in 1891, the city boundaries straddled the counties of [[Aberdeenshire (historic)|Aberdeenshire]] and [[Kincardineshire]]. Aberdeen was made a [[county of city|county of itself]] in 1899.<ref>{{cite web |title=Aberdeen Corporation Act 1899 (c. 60) |url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Vict/62-63/60/contents/enacted |website=legislation.gov.uk |publisher=The National Archives |access-date=5 February 2023 |archive-date=5 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230205100544/https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Vict/62-63/60/contents/enacted |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette|issue=11136|page=958|date=13 October 1899|city=e}}</ref> In 1975 the burgh was replaced by the larger City of Aberdeen district within the [[Grampian]] region.<ref name=1973act>{{cite web |title=Quarter-inch Administrative Areas Maps: Scotland Sheet 5, 1969 |url=https://maps.nls.uk/view/222075470 |website=National Library of Scotland |publisher=Ordnance Survey |access-date=15 August 2024 |archive-date=11 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240811110500/https://maps.nls.uk/view/222075470 |url-status=live }}</ref> Further local government reforms in 1996 replaced the districts and regions created in 1975 with council areas; the pre-1996 City of Aberdeen district became the Aberdeen City council area.<ref>{{cite legislation UK|type=act|act=Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994|year=1994|chapter=39|accessdate=29 January 2023}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette|city=e|issue=23789|page=1332|date=26 May 1995}}</ref>

In the [[Scottish Parliament]], the city is represented by three constituencies with different boundaries: [[Aberdeen Central (Scottish Parliament constituency)|Aberdeen Central]] and [[Aberdeen Donside (Scottish Parliament constituency)|Aberdeen Donside]] are wholly within the Aberdeen City council area. [[Aberdeen South and North Kincardine (Scottish Parliament constituency)|Aberdeen South and North Kincardine]] includes the North [[Kincardine, Aberdeenshire|Kincardine]] ward of [[Aberdeenshire Council]]. A further seven MSPs are elected as part of the [[North East Scotland (Scottish Parliament electoral region)|North East Scotland]] electoral region. In the [[European Parliament]] the city was represented by six [[Member of the European Parliament|MEPs]] as part of the all-inclusive Scotland constituency.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=irIYBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA254|title=Scotland and Europe, Scotland in Europe|year=2009|page=254|publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing|isbn=978-1443807043|access-date=18 March 2023|archive-date=14 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414205525/https://books.google.com/books?id=irIYBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA254|url-status=live}}</ref> Aberdeen is represented in the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom]] by two [[Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom|constituencies]], [[Aberdeen North (UK Parliament constituency)|Aberdeen North]] and [[Aberdeen South (UK Parliament constituency)|Aberdeen South]], which are wholly within the Aberdeen City council area.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bcomm-scotland.independent.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2023_review_final/bcs_2023_review_report_web_version.pdf |title=2023 Review of UK Parliament Constituency Boundaries in Scotland |date=27 June 2023 |website=[[Boundary Commission for Scotland]] |access-date=3 July 2024 |archive-date=27 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727115322/https://www.bcomm-scotland.independent.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2023_review_final/bcs_2023_review_report_web_version.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>